Sequence and phylogenetic analyses of novel glucosyltransferase genes of mutans streptococci isolated from pig oral cavity

Nucleotide sequences of water-insoluble glucan-producing glucosyltransferase (gtf) genes of new mutans streptococci isolated from pig oral cavity, Streptococcus orisuis JCM14035, and of Streptococcus criceti HS-6 were determined. The gtf gene of S. orisuis JCM14035 consisted of a 4,401 bp ORF encoding for a 1,466 amino acids, and was revealed to belong to the gtfI group. The percent homology of amino acid sequence of the GTF-I from S. orisuis and S. criceti are 95.0%, however, this score ranges from 77.0% to 78.0% when compared to Streptococcus sobrinus 6715. The deduced N-terminal amino acid sequence was considered responsible for the secretion of GTF-I in S. orisuis JCM14035 and S. criceti HS-6 with high similarity to known GTF proteins from other streptococci. In addition, two other conserved regions, i.e., N-terminal putative catalytic-site and C-terminal glucan binding domain, were also found in GTF-Is of S. orisuis JCM14035 and S. criceti HS-6. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that S. orisuis JCM14035 and S. criceti HS-6, closely related to each other, resemble S. sobrinus and S. downei based on the amino acid sequences of the GTFs.